China vs Singapore in World Cup 3rd round leg - 2nd September

    The first match to be played for the World Cup 3rd round qualifiers is between China and Singapore this Friday 2nd September. The match will be played in high altitude Kunming, some 1,800 ft abve sea-level. The Singapore team arrived last Thursday and have given themselves 8 full days to acclimatise to the cold high altitude (ie. lower levels of oxygen) pitch.

    Juan Antonio Camarro's first match pitches the Chinese at 69th spot in Fifa rankings versus Singapore at 129th and on paper, the Chinese look too strong. However, don't forget Raddy Aramovich is an 'old fox' at 61 having managed the Singapore team for 7 years now. He knows the 'heartbeart' of the team, the mood of the players and most importantly, the 'sengmangat' or spirit. Many of our players are Muslim, and being away from their families and friends this Hari Raya celebrations is a major sacrifice. So, all the more they want to win with their heads and most importantly, their hearts.  Additionally, they have 2 ex-Chinese nationals who are out to prove something against their motherland, Shi Jia Yi and Qiu Li are 2 members who have the opportunity to show their ex-countrymen what they lost when they were offered Singapore citizenship.

    My belief, is that if Singapore can at least hold or even win the game, the unity amongst the local fans will be even more strong, as we accept these players as 'our own'.  So, much is at stake here.

   Can they do it ? My prediction is that Singapore is going to upset the formbook and win 1 - 0.

Wolves great start to season 2011-12 ; Unbelievable but then again, kudos to them

Wolves 2 - Fulham 0 by kokoretsi

I am a 'born again' Wolves fan, after so many years of struggling in the lower reaches of the English League (even down to the 3rd division for 2 seasons and in my opinion 'lost in the wilderness'), they are now sitting pretty at 5th in the league, even topping the table for about 2 hours last weekend. Go you Wolves ! Finally Mick Macarthy has assembled a decent team with a worthy captain in  Roger Johnson, a bargain buy at 5 million pounds from relegated Birmingham.

Lest I be swayed into delusions of grandeur, but  to  Wolves "enjoy your moment". You are a team with great self-belief, having stayed up in the Premier League last season by the skin of your teeth, this epitomises the fighting spirit all of us, including me, as I decide on pressing on with new directions for my business as we move on in these very uncertain times. Never lose heart in our collective capabilities, and be motivated to bring ourselves to new heights. We must and will do it !!  I sound all cryptic and barmy to those who don't know me personally but I am facing challenges businesswise and will rise up to them.

What is certain for me, is that come what may, I will fight on and seize the day. Bring it on !!!    Go do your best Wolves !!!

The Greatest Achievement by Singapore these 46 years

                                                


       My late father Geoffrey Abisheganaden was interviewed in the book, Men in White, in it, he stated that the greatest achievement that Singapore had achieved was racial harmony. People of diffrent races, intermingling, and living side by side one another without fear and with friendship and camaderie built up through the shared struggles of a young nation.  Singapore's first prime minister as an independent nation, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and his able team of ministers have done a truly remarkable job transforming a once dirty backwater seaport into a shining metropolis with a high per capita GDP and many billions of foreign reserves.

      It was not too long ago that the UK and the USA were the 2 leading powerhouses of industry and all things popular from popular culture to fashion. In the last 3 years, there have been 2 major financial crises (1 is occuring at this present moment),US is technically bankrupt with 14 trillion of foriegn debt and UK not far off, with many endemic social problem, not least is the recent riots which highlight the longstanding hopelessness of the underclass - which are mainly from certain races who have been marginalised - and tearing apart of the social fabric of a country whose standard of living was the envy maybe just 40 years ago. Now US and UK's living standards for the masses or general population is frankly 3rd world and the worst is expected to follow with massive government budget cuts, and dim job prospects for the youth livin there.  

      It is with pride that as Singapore celebrates her 46th year of independence, I am especially proud of our  Singapore and our country has a bright forseeable future thanks to the early founding fathers and the tough decisions made during those difficult emerging years.

Thank you Mr. Lee and members of his cabinet.

Majulah Singapura !!

Kung Fu Hustle 2004 ; Final Fight Scene in HD

Classic ending to the movie. Its in Cantonese, way better than the English dubbed version. Enjoy.

Maroon 5 Moves like Jagger

Dedicated to Mick Jagger no less, who is a rock and roll icon of the last 40 years. Go Mick ! No old fart "El Divo" types for me.

'Green Lantern' of Bukit Jalil - How Unsportsmanlike !

Boo ! 

Laser light on Iswan's face

   The recent World Cup qualifying 2nd round match between Malaysia and Singapore brought out the best in both sets of players, and unfortunately the worst and shameful behavior from some so called Malaysian 'fans'.

   The picture above clearly shows one 'supporter' shining a green laser light aimed at the Singapore goalkeeper while Malaysia was about to take a crucial free kick. The faces of those beside him are those of nonchalance, or not being too bothered. This is utterly unsportsmanlike and totally unacceptable ! I heard that this shameful 'tactic' was employed during the recent AFC championships between Indonesia and Malaysia.

   If you want to be amongst the region's sporting best, please refrain from this childish and immature behaviors, it does not speak well of yourself. I am sure these idiots are a very small minority, but can tar a country's fine image of a multicultural and peaceful progressive society.

Singapore vs Malaysia World Cup Qualifiers 2014 ; July 2011 all Goals

    This is the summary of all the goals from the First Leg between Singapore and Malaysia for the 2nd Round World Cup Qualifiers. To be honest, I did not watch either game live, because it was too tense, and I had other ongoing appointments, so only watched the highlights of both games from the news.Singapore had been having a horrible 2010, and had the entire National team disbanded in early 2011, so that new blood could be injected, while retaining the talented, team players. I have utmost respect for Alex Duric, a Bosnian Serb by birth and who has played in Singapore for more than 10 years, applied for Singapore citizenship twice before, got rejected twice, and only got his citizenship approved in 2008.He is 41 this year, and fighting fit. He scored 2 precious goals in the first leg and headed the ball down for the 2nd leg scorer Shi Jia Yi to equalise the game at Bukit Jalil and kill off any hopes for Malaysia to advance to the 3rd round. Kudos goes to Alex !

Another 2 players who deserve special mention are the goalkeeper (3rd choice) Iswan Mahbud (21 years), and Safuwan Baharuddin (19 years).They were thrown into the cauldron of Bukit Jalil with 90,000 screaming partisan fans,who were jeering at everything related to Singapore as well as water bottles and lasers. They performed like heroes and took everything which the Malaysian strike force could hit at them (literally). Never once lost their cool or cracked under pressure.

Well done Young Men !

It was sad to see some unsportsmanlike behaviour from the fans on the 2nd leg in Malaysia, such as shining of lasers on the goalkeeper's face as well as roughhouse tactics,like heavy tackling, on the young Singapore goalkeeper. However, the police at the Bukit Jalil stadium ensured there was absolutely no violence, so kudos go to them. Its a football match, not a prelude to war.

Finally, my utmost respect to 2 other people(s), the coach, 61 year old Raddy Abramovich from Serbia who since he came in 2004, has won 2 Asian Football Championships (2005 and 2007), 3rd place in SEA games and (now) twice into the 3rd round of the World Cup, once in 2007 and now in 2011.You are No. 1 in my game as coach. May we try our very very best to make it to the World Cup Finals ?!!

The last group of people are the Die Hard Singapore Fans. People of all races, ages and professions who love the Lions so much that they travel even into the cauldron which is Bukit Jalil and came out with their heads held high and never played mind games like the name calling, laser pointing and other unsportsmanlike behavior from the Malaysian 'fans'.

Truly, great ambassadors of the country we can be proud of. I salute every one of our players,coach, Die Hard Supporters. You make me so proud to be a Singaporean.

Onward Lions ! Majulah Singapura !